Are you ready for some football? Training camp kicks off for Patriots at Gillette Stadium

Thursday

Jul 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2009 at 2:40 PM

Glen Farley

Watching Tom Brady fling the ball at quarterback from September through January, perhaps into February?

In the eyes of New England Patriots fans, priceless.

Watching Tom Brady fling the ball at quarterback in July and August?

Free.

With most practices on the practice fields located behind Gillette Stadium open to the public (and parking and admission are free), Patriots training camp kicked off today and is scheduled to continue through Aug. 18.

The tentative practice schedule through the first seven days of camp (today through Aug. 5) calls for a double session each day from 9:30-11:15 a.m. and from 3:45-5:30 p.m.

On days when the team practices just once, the single session is generally held from 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Fans planning to attend practice are encouraged to call the training camp hotline at 508-549-0001 or check the Web site www.patriots.com for updates.

Surely, Brady will be a sight for New Englanders’ sore eyes this summer.

The last Pats fans saw of No. 12, he was clutching his left knee in agony, the victim of a hit from the Kansas City Chiefs’ Bernard Pollard on a safety blitz midway through the first quarter of the team’s opener at Gillette last Sept. 7.

With that, Brady’s season — and ultimately the Patriots’ (despite a performance from Matt Cassel that improved as the year progressed, reaching a level no one could have expected) — was history.

Brady’s return could cause a rather intriguing dilemma next month.

Does the veteran quarterback put his knee to the test during the preseason or do the Patriots allow him to sit it out (as they did when a foot injury was an issue last summer) until their Sept. 14 regular-season opener with Buffalo, all the while allowing the inexperienced trio behind him — Kevin O’Connell, Matt Gutierrez and Brian Hoyer — to jockey for position?

Along with Brady’s return, there will be a number of story lines to follow through camp as the Patriots strive to take their first steps back to the postseason, a level they failed to reach last year for the first time since 2002.

Offensively, this could be a career-shaping season for Laurence Maroney, the team’s first-round pick in 2006 who has yet to find his stride in the NFL. With Maroney coming off a lost season (shoulder injury), it could be that, once again, the Patriots will take the running back-by-committee approach, particularly with the offseason addition of lifelong Jacksonville Jaguar Fred Taylor to a stable that also includes Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

With Jabar Gaffney’s relocation to Denver as a free agent, the passing game must find a third wide receiver behind Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Thirty-seven-year-old Joey Galloway, most recently of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, would appear to have the inside position ahead of Greg Lewis (an offseason addition via a trade with Philadelphia) there.

Conceding the top four spots on the Bill Belichick’s depth chart to Moss, Welker, Galloway and Lewis, the fifth spot, and quite possibly NFL careers, would appear to be a battle between veteran special teams player Sam Aiken, seventh-round draft choice and Wildcat candidate Julian Edelman and Matthew Slater, a disappointment as a rookie last year.

And just as is the case with Maroney, it could be a career-shaping season for another former first-round pick. With the additions of veterans Chris Baker (free agent, New York Jets) and Alex Smith (trade, Buccaneers) to the tight end position during the offseason, Benjamin Watson (Class of 2004), who is in a contract year, could be fighting for his football future in New England.

On the flip side, nose tackle Vince Wilfork made his displeasure with his contract situation (like Watson a 2004 first-round pick whose contract is up after this year, negotiations have dragged) known by skipping all of the Patriots’ organized team activities.

With Mike Vrabel included in the deal that sent Cassel to Kansas City, a starting outside linebacker must be found.

The casts in the secondary and on special teams are in flux.

Despite their multitude of questions, though, with the return of Brady the Patriots remain a serious contender in the AFC that must be considered a threat to claim their first Super Bowl title since the 2004 campaign.

Ingram signed; Love cut:

The Patriots announced the signing of sixth-round draft pick Jake Ingram, a long snapper out out of Hawaii, on Wednesday.

The Patriots released defensive back Jamar Love, a rookie free agent they signed out of Arkansas on April 30.

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